Becoming an NHS patient

Yesterday when I went downtown I took the opportunity to pick up some forms I needed from the local surgery (which sounds a lot more serious than it is as it's just a general practitioners office (vårdcentral på ren svenska)). In the UK you have to register personally with a doctor, unlike in Sweden where they just register you wherever you're living according to the census. Anyway, I filled in the forms last night and handed them in today and got an appointment for a health check up I need to have before my registration is complete. They're going to need blood work and I'm genuinely scared to death about that bit. Needles and me don't agree. I will more than likely pass out, so I intend to make sure the doctors/nurses are well aware of that so I can t least lay down when they stab me...

Had a call from the office a few minutes ago though saying they needed the name of my previous doctor and my previous address, so I had to march down there and explain I'm fresh off the plane (well, fresh-ish), I'm a complete newbie in the system. I think that posed a bit of a problem for the receptionist, but after a few miutes of clicking on her keyboard she'd sorted it out. So, with any luck I don't catch any terrifying diseases before my check up on Friday and I will be done and sorted and have access to full health care :)

Also: while out walking I located another cute church which they seem to have a lot of here. Didn't have time to go in and have a look though (ok, maybe I would have had time, but you know... business to attend to), but I did take a picture! So that's one of my objectives for another walk one of these days. So many cute churches, and actually quite a bit of time to spend exploring them... I need to get my arse off the sofa!

Yay!
Saga xx